Happy morning, Munchers! 🙏

As always, here is your daily dose of the news that matters, from Wall Street to Dalal Street - in 5 minutes and 1 second.

Let’s dive in.

What’s hot, what’s not?

Market Commentary

• Markets traded in a tight band ahead of the US Fed's field trip. It's a waiting game. ⌚

• Energy prices eased a little, but gas still remains near an all-time high. Hot stuff. 🔥

• All eyes are still on the comments from the US Fed from Jackson hole.

Story Roundup

1 - Europe may be facing it's worst drought in 500 years. 🌊

It's getting hot in Europe.

About 64% of the continent is under drought warning or alert. 

Most experts are expecting warm and dry conditions - which will fuel wildfires and reduce crop output.

A lot of EU crops are being hit very hard, with yield forecasts for maize and grain falling as much as 15% below their 5-year average.

Climate change is starting to hit. 🌳

2 - SpiceJet goes on a $250m fundraise. 💵

Troubled aircraft carrier SpiceJet announced a fundraise of about $250m to save their biz.

The stock jumped 4%, then fell back again after a lot of profit-taking.

This news comes after quite some tough times. Spicejet's financial health took a beating after COVID - and the airline has suffered it's third straight year of losses.

In addition, it's reputations gone for a toss too - with market share plunging from 2nd largest to 5th largest in India.

They're also the subject of some raised eyebrows - regulators restricted the number of seats they could sell to 50% over some mid-air technical malfunctions. 

Could this bird start flying again? 🤔

3 - Eurozone business activity contracts again. 📉

Higher prices, lower demand, and falling inventories - business activity in the Eurozone suffered it's largest drop since the COVID crisis.

European purchasing managers' index - a key gauge of business confidence - tumbled to 49.2 in July. 

That's the largest drop in 18 months, and the second consecutive month below the 50 mark. The 50 mark separates growth from contraction.

Recession fears 🆙. 📈

4 - US home sales plummet to slowest pace in a decade. 🏠

Purchases of new homes in the US fell 12.6% month-on-month - marking a deterioration in the housing market.

This slump in sales shows how housing is struggling to cope with elevated interest rates and sky-high prices.

At the current sales pace, it would take 10.9 months to exhaust the supply of new homes. 

That's the most since 2008. 🔥

5 - Tamara raises $100m for it's BNPL biz. 🔥

Saudi Arabian fintech Tamara announced their Series B fundraise yesterday - weighing in at $100m.

This one was led by Public Investment Fund, Shorooq Partners, Coatue, and checkout.com. 

Just last year, they broke records for the largest round raised by a fintech in the MENA region - with a $110m fundraise.

They want to splash this cash on newer markets - think emerging economies, maybe even an expansion West!

They've got over 3,000,000 customers and 4,000 merchants on their platform - including Ikea, Nike, Adidas, Shein, Namshi - the list goes on. 

But for investors, it's looking like Buy now, Profit never. 🤔

Hope you enjoyed this issue of the Market Munch. If you have any feedback, positive or negative, hit my line at [email protected] or +971 50 708 8469. 

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Cheers. 

- A